Lady Melbourn.
Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne (née Milbanke; 1751 – 1818).
The Marble bust by Anne Seymour Damer.
1784.
The bust was exhibited at the Royal Academy 1784.
Daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, 5th Baronet,(1725 - 98) of Halnaby Hall, Darlington.
She married Whig politician Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne (1745 - 1828) on 13 April 1769. He was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Lord Melbourne, Baron of Kilmore, in 1770, and Viscount Melbourne, in 1781.
Their London home Melbourne House, Piccadilly now known as the Albany, was designed by William Chambers c. 1771.
The Melbournes exchanged houses with the Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany in 1792, and they moved from Piccadilly to York House in Whitehall,
The family had country residences at Brocket Hall designed by James Paine, in Hertfordshire which Peniston Lamb inherited in 1768, and Melbourne Hall, in Derbyshire.
. She was the mother of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who
became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and several other influential
children. Lady Melbourne was known for her political influence and her
friendships and romantic relationships with other members of the English
aristocracy, including Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, Francis
Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford, and George, Prince of Wales. Because of her
numerous love affairs, the paternity of several of her children is a matter of
dispute.
.......................................
The triple portrait of Lady Melbourne, Georgiana, and
Anne Seymour Damer, Witches Round the Cauldron, the three witches in Macbeth painted in
1775 by Daniel Gardner, a commentary on their influence at court and in
political circles in the late 18th century.
Sir Peniston and Lady Lamb, Later Lord and Lady Melbourne,
with Lady Lamb's Father, Sir Ralph Milbanke, and Her Brother John Milbanke
('The Milbanke and Melbourne Families').
George Stubbs (1724–1806).
National Gallery.
This painting was most likely commissioned to commemorate
the alliance of the Milbanke and Melbourne families through marriage in April
1769. The married woman is Elizabeth Milbanke (seated in a carriage on the
left) and her husband is Peniston Lamb, 1st Lord Melbourne, mounted on a
chestnut horse on the right. Elizabeth’s father, Sir Ralph Milbanke, stands
beside her. The figure in the middle is most likely Elizabeth’s elder brother,
John Milbanke.
Bought from the Marlborough Gallery, acting on behalf of
Julian Salmond, 1975
Image and text above courtesy artuk website -
